Redefining agricultural yields: from tonnes to people nourished per hectare
Open accessAbstract
Worldwide demand for crops is increasing rapidly due to global population growth, increased biofuel production, and changing dietary preferences. Meeting these growing demands will be a substantial challenge that will tax the capability of our food system and prompt calls to dramatically boost global crop production. However, to increase food availability, we may also consider how the world's crops are allocated to different uses and whether it is possible to feed more people with current levels of crop production. Of particular interest are the uses of crops as animal feed and as biofuel feedstocks. Currently, 36% of the calories produced by the world's crops are being used for animal feed, and only 12% of those feed calories ultimately contribute to the human diet (as meat and other animal products). Additionally, human-edible calories used for biofuel production increased fourfold between the years 2000 and 2010, from 1% to 4%, representing a net reduction of available food globally. In this study, we re-examine agricultural productivity, going from using the standard definition of yield (in tonnes per hectare, or similar units) to using the number of people actually fed per hectare of cropland. We find that, given the current mix of crop uses, growing food exclusively for direct human consumption could, in principle, increase available food calories by as much as 70%, which could feed an additional 4 billion people (more than the projected 2–3 billion people arriving through population growth). Even small shifts in our allocation of crops to animal feed and biofuels could significantly increase global food availability, and could be an instrumental tool in meeting the challenges of ensuring global food security.
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Yield is not a good standalone metric of farming performance; what is produced provides a better view of a farm's sustainability in relation to the wider food system, especially for organic production.
“yield is not a good standalone metric of farming performance -what is produced provides a better view of a farm ' s sustainability in relation to the wider food system (Cassidy et al. 2013), especially concerning organic production (Muller et al. 2018).”
From Delivering “less but better” meat in practice—a case study of a farm in agroecological transition (2022) · cites this paper as Cassidy et al. 2013
The Introduction compares tonnes produced per hectare with food actually delivered per hectare, supporting the point that yield alone misses how production serves the wider food system. Cassidy et al. do not assess the sustainability of individual farms; that part extends beyond their analysis. The organic-production qualification is attached to Muller et al. (2018), not Cassidy et al. (LLM, conf=0.80)
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- Authors
- Cassidy, E. S., West, P. C., Gerber, J. S., & Foley, J. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Venue
- Environmental Research Letters
- Publisher
- IOP Publishing
- Published
- 2013-08-01
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 034015
- ISSN
- 1748-9326 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2123649182
- Cited by
- 673
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 56 · 2023: 63 · 2022: 56 · 2021: 88 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 51 · 2018: 53 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 54 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 34.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Research Letters (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- PepsiCo
- General Mills
- University of Minnesota
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Agricultural and Food Production Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Keywords
- agricultural yields, food availability, food security, crop allocation, animal feed, biofuel feedstock, agricultural land productivity, population growth, food demand
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